Toys R Us MLP/LPS Pet Swap event, sale

[MilkyTaroMochi]

I went to mine, and I was the sixth person to come by, even though I got to the store about an hour after it started.  I did have a nice mini conversation with the manager that was running the event.

I was kinda sad that it didn't seem to be a good turn out (I didn't bring any LPS with me because I had to go to a job interview right when the event started). But I am happy I got that cute dog!  I would have thought they woild also have a special edition MLP for the event as well.

[ponyqueen]

Kinda same here... but I went right when it started. I got the dog, poster, but I was the only swapper there. I had a basket full of lps and mlp! I was excited to trade with some cute kids (and mostly give them my lps, lol!)... But I certainly didn't want to wait around for two hours for more visitors, I think we left after 20 minutes?

[autieluna]

Same here. I got the dog (who I'm very happy about!) near the end and we were told only one little girl came in with pets to swap.

[kakenterprise]

I eneded up with a bunch of the promos dogs which was nice.

I brought a bunch of stuff to trade, but I guess I missed the only little girl who showed up.  The lady said she waited for over an hour to trade.  She was so sad that there wasn't anyone to trade.  The lady who worked at TRU was so nice she bought 3 ponies to trade with the little girl.

[MilkyTaroMochi]

Did they advertise this event at all, besides the weekly ad? I wonder if they mentioned it online or anything on the social media pages (be it TRU, LPS, or MLP's pages).

[Wysteria]

I dropped by my TRU and just saw them setting it up. A few people were waiting while the ripped open the toys but it was really busy at the store so maybe they had a better turn out.

[sleepyowl]

I went to mine and got the dog. I went when it first started and there wasn't really anyone there... there were maybe three kids and at least two brought stuff to swap. Despite only really being there when it first started, I don't think they were going to have a very big turnout because it was stormy during the events hours, like, I got rained on pretty heavily when I left. I didn't really see it advertised anywhere besides the website either so besides the weather, they probably had that going against them too.

[ponyqueen]

The staff at mine said the pokemon swap they did also did not have high turnout, so he wasn't expecting a lot here. Too bad- if it doesn't go well (like make them money) they'll stop hosting the events, I'm afraid.

[Snapdragon]

Did anyone grab an extra dog? I didn't go because I was afraid it was just for kids!

[gabumon]

Someone on Facebook said their local TRU was discouraging/turning-down adults who wanted to swap.  Did anyone have that happen?  Just curious for next year/time they do it.

[Itcheeee]

I eneded up with a bunch of the promos dogs which was nice.

I brought a bunch of stuff to trade, but I guess I missed the only little girl who showed up.  The lady said she waited for over an hour to trade.  She was so sad that there wasn't anyone to trade.  The lady who worked at TRU was so nice she bought 3 ponies to trade with the little girl.

That is so sad, but the so awesome of the employee to do that! I would of done the same if I was allowed... Could only imagine how disappointed kids were today :/

Post Merge: March 19, 2016, 07:36:30 PM

So I didn't make it until late afternoon, and they said no one came in to trade, and didn't have a place set up to do so really. Said only two collectors came in for the pony poster only (its just Manhattan park, no ponies are on it) and the Pinkie with Gummy coloring page so they gave me everything lps and pony, so I got my first current gen LPS besides a McDonald's purple squirrel the other year

Growing up events at toys R Us used to be pretty big...though they were mostly with character mascots like Care Bears. Guess most parents just don't want to bring their kids to swap type things, despite the free lps dog.

I only knew about it because of the mlpmerch and an email I happened to see, so kids sure didn't know about it :/

[Ariana]

Same with my toys r us event...there was only one other little girl there with a big carrying case of LPS! At least I got some of the nice goodies though...but I wish there was a girl with some MLP so I can give her some 

[Dragonflitter]

Today was the day I heard about the event! I saw a post on fb about it. I'm sad it sounds like a lot of places didn't have a big turn out, but I wonder if it would have been bigger if there was more advertising? Maybe I don't frequent the places where they advertise lol. Was there any tv commercials about this, or was it just a fb and in-person postings?

Omg Itcheeee, are you serious? I can't believe the MLP poster doesn't even have any pony characters on it! ; Wow, that's a fail.

(I can't help but feel if there was an exclusive MLP rather than an exclusive LPS dog, there would have been a stampede of collectors of all ages at these events heh heh)

[Violet CLM]

I have no idea how it was or wasn't advertised. I randomly stopped onto the TRU website last week, saw an announcement, and posted it here; someone else saw it (either at TRU or here) and sent it to MLPMerch; I don't know if there are more than two infection vectors out there.

[Sugarberry]

It was only because of the thread here that I knew about the swap.  I packed a bunch of mib G3 and a small assortment of other ponies and went.  Keith and I arrived about 3:15, and there was just one little girl there coloring on the event Pinkie page.  Holding a Rainbow Dash EG doll, she ran right over to look through the box.  The supervising employee was a super-sweet grandmother.  We all chatted a little while to give the little girl some time to pick through.  Earlier when the event had started, there had been 5 or 6 little girls, but they had left and then the last one had arrived. 

Eventually she shyly held up Ponyville's Rainbow Dash cookery set and asked if I'd trade for her doll.  I told her yes, but she needed to pick out more.  Equestria girls are not reallllllllly a favorite of mine, but today was all about just having fun and making someone happy. 
One very happy little girl left with three mib ponyville sets.  My result: I have my first open EG doll, and she'll stay here as a momento and she'll be treasured for that.  But there was a bigger surprise-  I was the last one there and won a doorprize.  I also came home with Pinkie's swan boat (and the cute paper tablecloth, poster, coloring sheet and the little dog).       Then proceeded to blow about $100.00 on other pony merch...

I'm not sure about the discouraging adult collectors thing.  I can see how it might be a problem though.  Adults in general tend to look at monetary value as opposed to play value.  When I picked out items for the event, I picked out ponies with the assumption of 1 pony for 1 pony- boxed or loose, didn't matter.  If the little girl had brought a fakie, I'd still have traded at least one.  But it's easy to see how adults could take advantage of an event like that.  The employee supervisor said they've had all nice adult collectors come in for other events (guess they do Pokémon and Shopkins too), and the experiences she's seen have been good ones.  It was nice to hear, because even with just one other trader, it was a fun time.  I hope they'll do it again in the future.